The Future of Restaurants in an AI World: Hudson Smith with Olo Founder Noah Glass
Thoma Bravo's Behind the Deal · 2026-03-26 · 36 min
Episode notes
At Thoma Bravo’s 2025 AI Summit, Partner Hudson Smith sits down with Olo Founder and CEO Noah Glass to unpack one of the firm’s most compelling recent investments. From its early days as a text-based ordering tool to becoming a category leader powering digital experiences for over 750 restaurant brands, Olo has spent two decades shaping how consumers interact with restaurants. In this conversation, Noah shares the origin story behind the company, the strategic thinking behind taking Olo private in 2025, and how data, network effects and AI are redefining hospitality at scale. They also explore what makes restaurant technology uniquely complex, why structured data helps create a durable moat, and how AI is expected tol transform both the guest experience and restaurant operations in the years ahead.
More from Thoma Bravo's Behind the Deal
All episodes →- From $1M to $2B+ in Revenue: David Ossip on Leadership and Scaling Dayforce31 / 100
- The Dayforce Deal: AI, Scale and the Future of Workforce Software47 / 100
- REVISITING: How Carl Thoma and Orlando Bravo Built the World’s Largest Software-Focused Investment Firm48 / 100
- Beyond the Deal: Building the Explore Platform
- Exostar: The Explore Platform's First Investment